Stiftung Wetterbaum

What Stiftung Wetterbaum does

Stiftung Wetterbaum is a Swiss non-profit foundation (Stiftung) established in 2007 and headquartered in Frauenfeld, canton Thurgau, that operates as a social enterprise providing integration-oriented work placements, coaching, and commercial services for disadvantaged individuals. Its primary beneficiaries are social-assistance recipients, refugees, provisionally admitted persons (VA), and people with Swiss disability insurance (IV) integration measures, referred and funded principally through cantonal and municipal social services and IV offices. The foundation operates three locations in Frauenfeld, Wängi, and Weinfelden, supporting approximately 50 integration and training work positions across nine service lines: three Brocki second-hand retail stores (combined 2,800 m2), a workshop for window-shutter and garden-furniture restoration, house and garden services, auxiliary construction labor, the karep.ch brand for refurbished coffee machines, a restaurant and café, and a laundry. Integration programs are priced on monthly subscriptions (CHF 400–1,500/month depending on intensity) and are bundled with follow-up coaching (CHF 700/month) and reporting services to referring authorities (CHF 250/month).

The foundation is supervised by the Ostschweizer BVG- und Stiftungsaufsicht and recognized as a charitable non-profit by canton Thurgau, giving donors tax-deductible status. Revenue mechanics are hybrid: program fees from public-sector referrals, transactional revenue from Brocki retail, restaurant, laundry, workshop, and coffee machine sales, plus charitable donations and public subsidies. A Berner Fachhochschule study documented a Social Return on Investment of CHF 2.50 per CHF 1 invested 1.5 years post-program and 12–13.3 percentage point higher separation rates from social assistance versus reference values. Governance is provided by a seven-member Stiftungsrat (Foundation Council) chaired by Tim Wepf, with Michael Hodel as Geschäftsführer (CEO) and Stefan Eggimann on the executive team. The organization has no proprietary technology platform; a 2024 solar installation (134 MWh/year) signals sustainability investment, while a 2020 COVID-era partnership with Stadt Frauenfeld and Verein wLw distributed approximately 100 donated laptops to those in need.

Name

Stiftung Wetterbaum

Legal name

Stiftung Wetterbaum

Website

https://wetterbaum.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Stiftung Wetterbaum is a Swiss non-profit foundation in canton Thurgau that provides integration-oriented work placements, coaching, and commercial services for disadvantaged individuals, operating three Brocki second-hand stores, a workshop, restaurant, laundry, and karep.ch coffee machine business across Frauenfeld, Wängi, and Weinfelden, funded by cantonal social services, IV referrals, and donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Integration & Work Rehabilitation Services

NAICS

Vocational Rehabilitation Services (6243), Individual and Family Services (6241), Employment Services (5613)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Employment & Job Readiness Support Services (BPAGAEAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Supported Employment & Job Coaching (EDAKANAE), Job Placement, Matching & Career Navigation Services (EDAAAOAL), Integration & Inclusion Services (Housing, Education, Employment) (BPADAHAI), Immigrant & Refugee Workforce Integration Programs (EDAAAOAJ), Job Readiness Training & Soft Skills Development (EDAKANAD)

Keywords

• Social integration services
• Workforce rehabilitation
• Second-hand retail
• Commercial laundry services
• Vocational training programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Frauenfeld

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Brocki Retail Sales: Revenue from sale of second-hand goods including furniture, clothing, books, household items, sports equipment at three Brocki locations
2. Restaurant and Café: Daily menus, à la carte offerings, café services, banquets and events at the restaurant opened October 2022
3. Laundry Services: Washing, ironing, folding services for private customers, businesses and institutions with pickup and delivery
4. karep.ch Coffee Machines: Sale, repair and service of refurbished coffee machines through workshop and online shop karep.ch
5. Workshop Services: Renovation of wooden window shutters and garden furniture including Teak furniture restoration
6. House and Garden Services: House maintenance, garden care, clearing and disposal, moving and transport services
7. Donations and Public Funding: Charitable donations from individuals and organizations, subsidies from public hand (cantonal social services, IV), recognized as non-profit by canton Thurgau

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Stiftung Wetterbaum runs integration-oriented work placements and coaching for disadvantaged people — social assistance recipients, refugees, provisionally admitted persons, and IV-insured persons — through a portfolio of operating businesses that include three second-hand "Brocki" shops, a restaurant and café, a commercial/private laundry, a wooden shutter and garden furniture workshop, house-and-garden services, and the karep.ch webshop for refurbished coffee machines. Programs range from clarification and work training through professional integration, external job coaching, and follow-up support, funded through a mix of referral contracts, sales revenue, public subsidies, and tax-deductible donations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• karep.ch: Coffee machine repair, service and sales of refurbished coffee machines
• SALEM
• Brockis
• Pause Bohne

Products and services

• Restaurant and Café (Gastro) Public restaurant and café in Frauenfeld serving daily menus, à la carte offerings, café beverages, banquets and events. Also rents a meeting room (up to 12 persons) at published rates (half-day CHF 75, full-day CHF 125). Functions as a work-integration workplace for disadvantaged participants.
• Brocki Second-Hand Retail Stores Three second-hand shops (Brocki Frauenfeld, Brocki Wängi, Brocki Wyfelde/Weinfelden) selling furniture, clothing, books, household items, sports equipment, rarities and donated goods to private and institutional buyers, including custom apartment-furnishing for social-service referrals. Act as work-integration workplaces.
• Wäscherei Laundry Service Commercial and private laundry and textile-care service (washing, ironing, folding) with pickup and delivery for private households, businesses, and institutions. Operates as a work-integration workplace.
• karep.ch Coffee Machine Service and Sales Sale, repair, and service of refurbished coffee machines via the karep.ch online webshop and in-workshop service (Servicepaket starting from CHF 99 for basic service including descaling, internal cleaning, function check, and full cleaning). Includes the house-brand "Pause Bohne" coffee beans. Functions as a work-integration workplace.
• Werkstatt Window Shutter and Garden Furniture Renovation Workshop-based renovation of wooden window shutters and garden furniture (including Teak restoration), with quote-based pricing via an online Offertenformular. Functions as a work-integration workplace.
• Haus & Umwelt House and Garden Services On-site services for private and institutional customers including house maintenance, garden care, clearing and disposal (Räumung und Entsorgung), moving and transport services. Functions as a work-integration workplace.
• Hilfsarbeiten Auxiliary Construction Labour Auxiliary labour (Hilfsarbeiten) supplied to construction sites and contractors. Functions as a work-integration workplace.
• Soziale Integration (Day Structure) Program Day-structure social-integration program for social-services referrals providing work-style structure and integration pathway; CHF 400/month recurring fee plus CHF 3,000 success fee for sustainable primary-labor-market placement within 6 months.
• Arbeitstraining Work Training Program Work-training program for IV and social-services referrals building work capacity and habits. CHF 800/month recurring fee.
• Abklärung 3-Month Work Clarification Program Three-month work clarification (Abklärung) program assessing participants' vocational capacity and fit. CHF 1,300/month recurring fee.
• Berufliche Integration Professional Integration Program Medium-term professional integration (BIP) program for social-services and IV referrals supporting placement into the primary labor market. CHF 1,500/month recurring fee; demonstrated 13.3 percentage points higher separation rate from social assistance vs. reference population per Berner Fachhochschule.
• Nachbetreuung Follow-Up Support Service Post-placement follow-up support (Nachbetreuung) for participants after they transition to external employment. CHF 700/month subscription OR CHF 140/hour, with a cost ceiling of CHF 900.
• Externes Job-Coaching (External Job Coaching) External job-coaching service providing on-the-job coaching to participants placed at external employers. Functions as a work-integration program component.

Quantifiable outcome

• 12 percentage points higher separation rate from social assistance for Social Integration participants (per Berner Fachhochschule study)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Verein wLw (wir-lernen-weiter.ch)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership with Verein wLw for the 'Digitalization for those in need' project during COVID-19 pandemic. Stiftung Wetterbaum distributed approximately 100 donated laptops to financially disadvantaged families and individuals. The wLw association operates throughout Switzerland and continues to mediate laptop requests through partner municipalities and organizations.
• Stadt FrauenfeldminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Co-financing partnership with Stadt Frauenfeld for emergency aid fund of over CHF 20,000 for digitalization project to provide laptops to those in need during COVID-19 pandemic. Stadt Frauenfeld contributed to 'Fonds COVID-19'.
• Zivi (Vollzugsstelle für den Zivildienst)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCollaboration with Zivi, the Swiss Civil Service implementation agency, to provide three placement positions for civil service candidates in Frauenfeld and Weinfelden. Details available through ZiviConnect with keyword 'Wetterbaum'.
• SALEM (Begegnungscafé)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupport for Begegnungscafé Salem in Frauenfeld through donations. SALEM is a related project focused on community encounter and integration.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• SOS Kinderdorf Schweiz: Swiss child- and youth-welfare foundation with education, training, and social-integration components; adjacent in the broader Swiss social-services ecosystem but with a different primary mission than Wetterbaum's adult workforce integration.

Broad incumbents

• Schweizerisches Rotes Kreuz (SRK): Swiss Red Cross operates migrant/refugee integration, training, and social-support programs nationally; comparable on integration for disadvantaged populations but at much larger scale and scope.
• Caritas Schweiz: Large national social-services organization running integration, training, and second-hand retail programs across Switzerland; broader portfolio but overlapping on social integration and Brocki-like activities.
• Heilsarmee Schweiz (Brocki): Swiss arm of the Salvation Army operates a chain of Brocki second-hand shops alongside broader social programs; competes for second-hand retail share and represents a larger, established player in the same category.

Direct peers

• Stiftung Züriwerk: Zurich-based Stiftung operating multiple social-integration workplaces (workshops, retail, gastronomy, services) with vocational rehabilitation and job-coaching programs for people with disabilities or social-assistance backgrounds — the closest structural analog to Stiftung Wetterbaum.
• Contact Netz: Network operating multiple social enterprises (Brockis, workshops, cafés, services) providing vocational and social integration in Switzerland — a comparable multi-site Sozialfirma model.
• Stiftung arwo: Stiftung arwo runs a network of Sozialfirma-style integration workplaces across Aargau/Solothurn with similar Brocki retail, workshop, gastronomy, and job-coaching offerings — comparable model and target population to Stiftung Wetterbaum.
• Stiftung Profil: Swiss foundation providing vocational integration, qualification, and job coaching for disadvantaged individuals — directly overlaps with Wetterbaum's core integration/coaching value proposition.
• WBK Kloten (Werk- und Begegnungsstätte): Regional Swiss Sozialfirma offering work integration programs, workshops, and day-structure placements for disadvantaged individuals — closely aligned model and target population.

Regional players

• Stiftung Tannacker: Bern-region foundation combining a Brocki second-hand shop, workshops, and integration programs — comparable Sozialfirma structure in a different Swiss canton.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/1623657563092799
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stiftung-wetterbaum

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stiftung Wetterbaum